The Bet
by oahfoah
Summary: In a race against the clock, can Claudia take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity? ::One-shot::


**I do NOT own Warehouse 13!! **

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The sun was peeking its head over the horizon, casting a bright orange glow in the waking sky. The morning air was still quiet allowing a few birds to dig into the ground, looking for their breakfast. A slight breeze helped the reluctant trees stretch out; shaking off a few of the remaining leaves still clinging to their branches. A loud crunch of dead leaves startled the birds and they flew up to the nearest tree, abandoning their hunt. The relaxing atmosphere was ignored completely by a young red haired girl running with all her might toward the old yet homey Bed and Breakfast.

She had been sitting at a small picnic table situated about 100 yards from the B&B just minutes before. She liked to visit her little spot whenever she needed fresh air and quiet. She was up all night staring at her laptop, searching for answers. It was nearing 5:45am when she saw it. If she was someone else and not as determined, she probably would have overlooked it. But she wasn't and didn't. That tiny clue was all she needed. Then everything fell into place. "O duh," Claudia mentally smacked her head but continued to type ridiculously fast, she had her answer, now she just needed to write out the connections. It took her all of 6 minutes to finish her work. She glanced at the clock, 5:51am. "Crap," and without any other hesitation Claudia closed her laptop, placed it quickly into her bag and took off running toward her home.

She burst through the big doors with such force that she nearly stumbled into the kitchen.

"I got it! I figured it out!" Claudia yelled, a little louder than she meant.

The group in the kitchen abruptly stopped what they were doing, one with her coffee mug inches from her lips, her partner with half of a doughnut in his mouth, the second woman stood in front of the oven, holding a new batch of cookies, and the last man engrossed in a newspaper. All were bewildered at the sight of the teenager. She was wearing the same clothes they saw her in yesterday but her hair was slightly de-shelved and she had bags under her eyes.

Pete quickly swallowed the half-doughnut still in his mouth when he saw the red head keel over in an attempt to catch her breath, and uttered, "Claudia? What-"

"It's the earrings," Claudia interrupted looking up at the man behind the newspaper. "Catherine of Aragon's."

"And?" Artie kept his gaze on the paper.

"And, um," Claudia stood up straight and spilled out the rest, "it has the power to get anyone to love you but it's cursed so that after a little bit of time the man goes all psycho and kills her. My guess is that it was passed on to Henry VIII's other five wives since they all ended the same, except for Catherine of Parr, which I'm assuming means she got smart and chucked the ugly things."

Recognizing what was going on, Leena smiled and turned to put the cookies into the oven. Myka and Pete still looked confused as she lowered her mug and he continued to stare blankly. They shared a puzzled glance then looked between the other three as if their faces would suddenly reveal the meaning behind the girl's words. Artie put down the newspaper, glanced at his watch and then sighed. For a few moments there was silence.

"Ok."

"Yes!" Claudia pumped a fist into the air in victory.

Leena decided this was a good time to fill in Pete and Myka, "Last night Claudia challenged Artie to a bet. If Claudia could figure out what was happening in College Station, Texas by 6am this morning without any help, Artie would have to do all the inventory for the next month."

Pete looked at the clock on the microwave; it shined 5:59am. "O, haha, nice." Pete raised his hand to high five Claudia.

She complied with a huge grin, "well, you know, they don't call me a genius wiz-kid for nothing."

"Yea, yea," Artie leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. But Myka noticed he didn't look too surprised, he even held back a smile as Claudia dropped her bag on the floor and plopped down onto the chair directly across from him.

"So," Claudia started as she reached for a doughnut, "where shall we start? I'm thinking the Loques section." She shared a smile with the other two girls as Artie rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'll read the manual later today but, what section?" Pete asked, clearly missing the joke.

Myka decided it was her turn to fill him in, "It's the section filled with art artifacts."

"O, ouch, borrring," Pete replied which got everyone laughing except for Artie who got up and walked to the sink.

"Ha, yea, well, not to disappoint but I actually like art and paintings."

"O yea, hmm." Claudia screwed up her face in thought. "I guess I will just have to think of something else," she teased as she walked past Artie into the living room where she slouched down onto the couch. Pete and Myka followed her but remained standing in the doorway between the two.

Artie moved toward the front door and grabbed his coat. When he opened the door he called back, "I'll see you at the warehouse," and he was gone. Pete and Myka shared another glance then entered the living room.

"So what would have happened if you lost the bet?" Pete asked Claudia as he sat down on the comfy chair across from the teenager. When she didn't respond he picked up a pillow to throw it at her to get her attention.

"Pete!" Myka hissed at him.

"What?" he lowered the pillow as he looked from Myka to Claudia. Then he noticed the young girl's head leaned against the side pillow. She was asleep. Myka grabbed a blanket and laid it on the sleeping girl. Then she grabbed Pete's arm and, ignoring his 'pained' expression, led him out of the room.

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This just popped into my head and I wrote it in like an hour and a half when I should have been doing homework. But I mean, this is just so much more fun! :)

So what do ya think?


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